Efficient drying of clothing, footwear and other items can be a significant problem particularly for those in the field. Wet clothing is uncomfortable to wear and can hinder mobility. Wet clothing and footwear are also major causes of sores, blisters, skin infections and various foot disorders. In cold weather, wet clothing increases body heat loss resulting in cold injuries such as hypothermia.
Current methods of drying clothing, footwear and other items including using newspaper and other materials as wicking, circulating hot air from blow dryers, chemical heat packs, and chemical desiccators, while sometimes available in fixed facilities, are not always accessible, may be cumbersome, and may require an available power source.
Currently available absorbent and super absorbent materials include chamois-like towels and rags made from natural or synthetic hydrophilic fibers or polyvinyl (PVA) or polyacrylate foams. Other known and commercially available absorbents include materials impregnated with pockets of super absorbing polymers, materials mixed with super absorbing polymers during fabrication, and materials adhered/coated with a film of super absorbing polymer.
Some of these prior art materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,131 A to Boe, a chamois leather-like material having improved water absorbency and abrasion resistance; US 20080128101 A1 of Furman, teaching a method of applying a super-absorbent composition to tissue or towel substrates; US 20080032035 A1 of Schmidt, disclosing an absorbent structure with improved water-absorbing material; U.S. Pat. No. 8,367,570 B2 to Renecker, describing a mechanically strong absorbent non-woven fibrous mats; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,454,836 B2 to Chase, disclosing a method for removing water from an organic liquid.
State of the art towels that employ the technologies described above have limited absorption capacity. The invention disclosed below and in the accompanying figures significantly improves absorptive capacity by, among other things, the incorporation of super absorbing polymers into mat composite materials and form factors.
Current applications of super absorbing polymers have significant limitations due to difficulty of use, which stem from form factors. The disclosed invention creates a novel material by changing the form factor of the integrated super absorbing polymers that increase ease of use as well as performance in a variety of drying applications.
The new super absorbent materials disclosed herein may also include antimicrobial properties and other functionalities not present in the prior art absorbents, and can be used for biomedical applications.